Born in the village of Mari-Sholner, 84 miles (135 km) north of Kazan and 449 miles (723 km) east of Moscow. Moved with his family to Chelyabinsk at the age of two and learned to play hockey there. But football was also a sport that he really liked and played from a young age.
A pretty complete player who was equally good at scoring goals as dishing out nice passes to his teammates. Developed into a very solid forward defensively over the years.
Played 430 league games, scoring 365 points (195+170). Represented Soviet Union/Russia 199 times. Retired in 2000 after having played the last ten years of his career in Switzerland.
Went on to become a hockey coach, leading the Russian national team to his first World Championship gold medal in 15 years in 2008.
Inducted into the Russian Hockey Hall of Fame.
Full biography PH